Game Releases: The Best Of September 2016

If you’re looking for something to buy this coming month you need look no further than the following suggestions. September sees a bunch of old classics making a welcome return as well as some new franchises that you might not have heard of before. As the nights begin to get noticeably darker,here we see some excitement for XBOX One fans, whilst PS4 owners will probably want to skip towards October, yet there is something that everyone can enjoy on all platforms. Let’s take a look at at the highlights of September, 2016.

Dead Rising, what a bit of a Marmite game, you either loved it or hated it, but I’m more than excited to see Frank West make his debut by starring in remakes of the Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2. The Dead Rising games were noted for their harsh time management systems. On your first playthrough, odds are that you won’t save everyone and will miss out on events that occur on a pre-defined timer. What also confused people somewhat when Dead Rising first came out was the ‘rogue-like’ elements. After you died you could start again but with the improved stats you’d gained so far.

Another remaster that’s got everyone excited is the Bioshock Collection. This is an absolute must for those of you that have never played Bioshock before, as it’s much prettier versions of the PS3 classics. Not only are the games great but the Bioshock Collection is a real value for money proposition. 3 games, Bioshock, Bioshock 2 and Bioshock Infinite.

Whilst this isn’t a whole new game it is a rather large and hugely anticipated expansion to Destiny, which had a rocky launch but is now going from strength to strength. The expansion is set to include a whole new single-player campaign, a new 6 player raid, a new zone to explore and tons of new gear, weapons and enemies.

Last month we got the latest edition of Madden and now in September we see other popular sports franchises make their way onto all popular platforms. Whether you’re a FIFA player or a Pro Evolution Soccer player, September’s the month for you. A lot of the talk around Pro Evolution Soccer this year has been massively positive and the trailers for FIFA have shown off some really interesting new features, including a story mode which is a first for FIFA.

There’s also NHL 17. Having never played an NHL game in my life, it’s hard for me to talk specifics about this year’s title, but I’m sure it’ll build on the great gameplay of last year’s title but hopefully add more gameplay modes which were sorely missing.

I’ve already sunk 25 hours into the PC version of XCOM 2 but I’ll happily start all over again on the PS4 this month. A fantastic strategy game that’s as brutal as it is brilliant, XCOM 2 will see you take on alien forces using your brains as well as your brawn. An absolute must for the more cerebral PS4 and XBOX One owners out there.

Unlike the first XCOM, this time around you’re fighting the aliens that have already ‘won’. The extra-terrestrials are in charge and running the entire planet, so it’s up to you and the resistance you’re in charge of to overthrow the alien overlords. Good luck with that though, this game’s notoriously tough and the odds are pretty heavily stacked against you.

This one’s a little out of left field but we’re trying to make sure there’s something for everyone on this list. Psycho Pass: Mandatory Happiness is based on the Psycho Pass anime which is all about a dystopian future where people can be arrested for even thinking about committing a crime.

The game itself runs at a more sedate pace than the other titles coming out this September as Psycho Pass: Mandatory Happiness is a visual novel. You’ll be reading conversations and responding to them, with your choices having an impact on the story and the ending you’ll get. If you make some bad choices, don’t be surprised to see the story ‘conclude’ a lot sooner than you’d perhaps expect. Psycho Pass: Mandatory Happiness is prime for replaying and it’s going to take you multiple playthroughs before you’ll see everything.

It’s fully voiced by the Japanese cast of the anime and it’s coming out on PS4 and Vita this month.

From the guy behind MegaMan comes ReCore, which is a blend of action, adventure and exploration in a world full of robots. Some are hailing it as something akin to Zelda and it’s clear to see why. Throughout your adventure you’ll come accross all manner of dungeons and labyrinths and you’ll need to use your gadgets to work your way out of them.

What’s also really interesting about ReCore is the fact you’ll not just fight robots but you’ll have your own merry band of electrical buddies of your own. You can customize your electrical pals as the game progresses, allowing you to have robots that will defend you, others that will confuse enemies with their speed and so on.

As this is now the third Forza Horizon game, you should have a good idea of what to expect. Forza Horizon 3 looks to continue to raise the bombastic stakes of the previous Horizon titles by offering all sorts of high-octane racing. One cool looking feature is the drop-in and drop-out nature of the online multiplayer, except this is a little more literal than we’re used to. Trailers have shown that when a new user drops into the race you’ll see the new user’s car being flown in via a helicopter and dropped, from a height, onto the race track.

If you’re after realism, then Forza Horizon 3 probably won’t be for the purists out there. If you want all manner of vehicle type, outrageous open-world tracks and a whole lot of car customization, Horizon 3 is looking to be a real treat.

Poke-what? Pika-who? The new hotness is Yo-kai Watch and this is the second in the series. Clearly, there’s similarities between this and the world conquering pocket monsters, but Yo-kai Watch has it’s own unique charm where you’re tasked with finding and capturing ghosts and spirits that are causing problems in the real world.

You get to wander around the open-world of Yo-Kai, fight ghosts with your own ghosts, level them up and capture more ghosts. You can see why this would remind people of Pokemon, right? What helps set Yo-Kai Watch apart is the reliance on Japanese folklore for the inspiration of the ghosts, goblins and ghouls you’ll come across.

I’m not a massive player of fighting games but it’s hard not to notice just how well received the new Killer Instinct has been. Killer Instinct, when it first came out, was a free to play title where you’d have to fork out money to permanently unlock new characters.

Now, with Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition you’ve got a full release that has everything unlocked, all 26 fighters across all 3 seasons. Some of the fighters are favourites from other games, with Rash from Battletoads and The Arbiter from Halo.

I can imagine that some of you are rolling your eyes at the mere mention of a management-sim making it onto the top 10 releases this month, but bear with me. For one, it looks really nice and it also plays really quickly. A lot of sports management games are a bit slow, with seasons taking absolute hours but Motorsport Manager allows you to race (ha) through seasons at a pace that’s as fast or as slow as you like.

Whilst it’s aimed to be easy to play there’s still a tremendous amount of depth to the game with you not only in charge of race days, needing to ensure pit stops happen when they should and gear boxes are set-up as they need to be, but you’re also in charge of hiring racers, investing in new tech and so on.

That’s our top releases for September, 2016. Quite a strong month for the Microsoft camp considering the releases of Forza Horizon 3 and ReCore, although the Sony camp has October to get hyped about. Hopefully there’s something on there for you to get excited about. If you think we’ve missed something, let us know. Tweet us or leave a comment, we’d love to know what you’re planning on buying this coming month.